Los Angeles Times names Julia Turner senior vice president of content business strategy
Julia Turner has been promoted to the newly created role of senior vice president for content business strategy at the Los Angeles Times, reporting to Executive Editor Kevin Merida.
“Julia is a skilled editor and strategist who has been a key leader in our efforts to cultivate ambitious journalism and ensure that our work is reaching more people,” Merida said. “She has experience working with disparate teams to rally around common objectives and will bring that skill to this new role. She will be instrumental in guiding where the Los Angeles Times should place strategic bets, helping us pursue editorial excellence in ways that support our business goals.”
Merida also said that in her new senior newsroom role, Turner will work closely with colleagues on the business side, aligning editorial and financial goals and leading efforts to refine and expand plans for a wide range of projects.
“The opportunities ahead for the Los Angeles Times are boundless,” Turner said. “We’re based in a city that confronts the future every day. That invents the future every day. We have a unique opportunity to build the newsroom of the future to match: as innovative, diverse and dynamic as Los Angeles itself. It will be a privilege to work with Kevin Merida and our extraordinary team to help chart a sustainable course for the important work we are doing and the exciting things we’ll do next.”
Turner joined the L.A. Times as a deputy managing editor in 2018 following a 15-year career at Slate, where she served as editor in chief for four years. During her time running Slate, she expanded the online magazine’s audience, podcast network and membership program, and the journalism Slate published was recognized with several honors, including Polk and National Magazine awards. Most recently, she ran the L.A. Times’ coverage of entertainment and sports and worked with newsroom leadership to develop and implement editorial strategy.
“The Los Angeles Times’ journalism is a tremendous asset,” said Anna Magzanyan, Times head of strategy and revenue and chief of staff to the executive chairman. “We’re thrilled that Julia has taken on this role and, among other things, will accelerate communication between the newsroom and different revenue departments. Her experience combining rigorous journalism with data-driven audience strategy will be vital to our content strategy.”
During Turner’s years leading the Entertainment staff, the team significantly expanded the size of its digital audience and the range of culture it covers. It also aggressively pursued investigations, among them the stories that led to the industry boycott of the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. and Golden Globes. In addition, members of the Entertainment staff won or were finalists for Pulitzer Prizes in each of the past three years.
Effective immediately, Turner will work within the newsroom and with leaders across the company to drive editorial content strategy and expand on business opportunities associated with The Times’ journalism.
